Where is all this going?

[Kobus Jooste]

Well, trying to sneak back in here after a self imposed sabbatical and just quietly seeing what is going on has been nullified by a front page welcome.  So there, now what?  Well, perhaps I can throw the thoughts that have been floating in my head at all 800 puzzled people waiting for the man from an unknown town in the only place in the Southern Hemisphere where it is NOT raining to say something riveting. 

 

Well there is not much fun stuff over here right now.  Sorry.  After giving two years of my time and a lot of money to aquaponics, I had to reach an angry conclusion late last year that either I am missing something or the rest of my country is.  In a place with very little urban food production, poor nutrition in large sections of the population and a serious shortage of good agricultural land and water, the scientist in me immediately thought that aquaponics is not such a bad idea.  Maybe even a good idea worth convincing other people to try. Oh well.  Two years later and I was facing an interesting reality.  This country is very likely very, very far away from caring about sustainability, nutritious food, our water crisis or any other selling point that seem to work well on people all over the world. The kind folk in public office put in charge of funds earmarked for such type of things were not moved.  The ones that did not fall asleep at the mention of how it works that is. I never wanted to take aquaponics to home unit mode here.  That is possible, but the kind of people in need of the produce I had in mind, or that could derive an income from it, are not the kind of people that you would sell one of those to.  I was looking at larger commercial operations from a community development angle.  In my part of the world, there is not a massive market for home units, and thus targeting that as a sole objective will never cut it.  A rather acerbic financial wizard family member of mine with a knack for saying the right thing in the most uncaring manner possible looked at me and bluntly stated that the market out here will not give a stuff about the goodness of a cucumber, the sustainability of the farm it came from or the neat way in which it was grown.  They will ask how much it costs.  Not much else.  All this was very annoying to a scientist, but I heeded his instructions to look critically at how I try to market myself or my product.  He also mentioned something about the cutting edge versus the bleeding edge of technology, and mused that I am likely to far ahead of the rest of the pack down here in terms of how I view a cucumber.  Bleeding edge is not good.  Not when Plan B got left behind in 2009 somewhere and the broken stuff around the house is getting numerous.

 

So between the cobras, the drought, the stock thieves and the elderly people having strokes we tried to have a Christmas and I tried to work out how on earth to market aquaponics here, if at all.  The sad conclusion for me is that I do not think it is worth marketing here right now.  Organic markets, farmer's markets or any other place to buy locally produced vegetables does not really exist.  Urban agriculture does not exist.  Aquaculture does not exist.  Most people are focused on budget, and the rest, is history.  I do not think that this scenario is peculiar to South Africa, but I was wondering what the thoughts of others may be on the topic.  How do you market aquaponics in an arena where none of the obvious selling points seem to mean anything?  If you take away sustainability, produce quality and all natural from the marketing language, what would you say?  Well, all you can say is what it costs, and how much of it you can deliver.  Am I missing a key marketing point here?  According to the aforementioned financial wizard, people are all about convenience, and toiling 40 days for a cucumber from their back garden just does not make sense if he or she calculates his or her hourly worth and looks at the price of a cucumber.  Never mind that the ones in the shop tastes like nothing.  A great tasting cucumber is not worth the toil of a home system to too many people, and in a country with a small potential customer base, this is a serious consideration. 

 

I was left with this one publishable thought.  The typical customer, according to The Man, should therefore be health conscious, environmentally aware, have enough space available and heaps time on their hands.  Alternatively you play the convenience card like a mad man to the people that were all of the above except in possession of ample space and/or time.  Just one snag.  According to players from the Australian scene, around 80% of these suitably characterized potential aquaponics folk like to build their own set-up.  So again, if the market is small, and 80% of the few you are going to snag will trundle off and do their own thing, you are left with a small customer base.  Too big a gamble for a family man.  Still, the optimist in me says that it is interesting enough to hang about and see where it will all go.  I want to design a single (perhaps two) project for 2011 that is based on the most salient selling points of aquaponics for my setting, number and type of theoretical customer.  One angle is the wellness crowd.  Stick an aquaponics system in at a wellness centre, give some talks and see what comes of it.  The other option is gunning for the convenience model on a manageable scale.  A small system producing to order on a trial basis to begin with.  Thoughts?   

[Kobus Jooste]

TC Lynx - Those easy shelving systems are very nice, but the manufacturers already have an export wing so I"ll have to play nice in order to get a cut of the action.  They are very versatile though.  Mine have been out in the elements since 2008 and are still good to go.  I am also still messing with my artificial media idea.

 

I have no problems with a long time period before something comes off, but then it should have been part of the scenario from the start.  I will again be willing to take that much time to get there if that is the plan.  Some smooth talking politicians and over-reaching partners quickly muddied the view.  Needed to abandon everything to see what is going to work and what was BS.  Now it is a case of finding something to keep me busy with and just tinker along with the forums and my own systems until we reach a point that there is something coming of it.  Africa's way of addressing their problems also seem way off par, but if I'm selling kits to wellness centres while 50% of the people in my surrounds are under the breadline so be it.  I seriously thought that we were going to find people willing to help their voters, but it is easier to just make some promises than to allow non-political people to swoop in and solve problems that these characters can not.  Funny how that works.  It was very difficult to give up on community projects, but if that has to wait for now, then it must just be.  Just doesn't sit right with me helping rich ladies grow nicer basil when everywhere you park a car in my town you are approached by at least one person looking for food or a job.

[Jay Wolf]

I have no idea if this will help anyone's frame of mind but I will attempt to give me two cents worth.  Back in the late 80's and early 90's, the yellow perch population in the great lakes area was going down fast.  People around the area were looking for a solution that didn't involve ponds.  My father and I spent three years developing and tweaking a commercial size RAS (recirculating aquaculture system) that was easy on the environment.  Obviously people liked the idea and tried but couldn't make enough money to continue their business.  We were successful at producing a high quality product and still turn a profit.  That being said, it took a minimum of 6 years to really turn people's head and not only appreciate what we were doing but also ask for product like we were offering.  I too am dealing with politicians who have never heard of "aquaponics".  I am determined not only to show them the light but to have them in 5 years minimum demand it.  Patience is key!  By the way, I absolutely love this site!  I didn't think there were people out there who are going through the same thing as me.  Keep your heads up and change the "old school" way of thinking.  LOL  Wasn't too long ago that people said Whole Foods would never succeed!

[TCLynx]

Gotta find a niche.  Can't make any money if no one buys it even if the profit margin would be good.

 

Now Kobus, the shelving pipe system you use...that might be a good item to be a distributor for (even if selling/installing it isn't directly aquaponics related.)  I like those things they look really cool.

[Kobus Jooste]

Idea sharing is good, and in reality, I do not think that there is a lot of IP to protect in aquaponics right now.  99% of everything is out there in public domain as is.  I'm not worried about open book attitude towards most of what I do (some research I'm involved in are paid for by an agency, thus I will never talk about that).  In any ways, IF someone comes up with something new and sells the first one, the idea is out.  Unless he or she spent a fortune on copyright, it will be copied all over the place in any case.  The money is to be made in support services, some installing and design, consumables etc.  Systems themselves perhaps too, but not so much as in the back-up and support side (and training).  I'll go baby steps through this year and see what people really want.  That is where the people from the previous partnership got it wrong as far as I am concerned.  Not really spending their time figuring out what people really want but rather choosing to promote the concepts where they stood to make the most money.

[TCLynx]

I totally understand that.  Especially in aquaponics, the details can be rather important too.  (I had been figuring more along the lines of idea sharing about how to get aquaponics more accepted but anyway.)

 

The wellness center sounds like a good project.

[Kobus Jooste]

Sorry to say this, but for reasons Internet caused (everyone knows everyone and soon a comment is where it should not be) I'll have to be cryptic as to why I will not talk to him ever again, or allow him to put up a tunnel frame for that matter either .  I have found some people on the corporate fund raising side that I will try to work with.  Also know a lady with a wellness centre that wants me to put a small system together for her.  Last I heard snapto upped and moved to a town about 900 kilometers from where I stay. Perhaps it was to get to the most liberal province in terms of permits for tilapia, or perhaps some other people's tunnels also came down.  Perhaps it is just bad luck, but every stuff up in my career that I have been exposed to happened when I allowed more people into the team.  I'm done with "partners" or "installers".  If I cannot build it myself or buy it complete, I don't need it !

[TCLynx]

Kobus, do you know synaptoman?  I'm not sure what part of South Africa he is in but he has managed to build at least one or two commercial scale aquaponics systems.  I wonder if some local collaboration would work for you.

http://synaptoman.wordpress.com/aquaponics/

[Kobus Jooste]

Chi - in 2008 I was still purely in environmental consulting, but by that time I hade been envolved with enough aquaculture projects to see their shortfalls.  I designed a simple commercial scale AP system, motivated for funding support and at the same time, put a smaller system on display at a local nursery.  An engineering company saw the small unit, and when they looked at the business plan for the start-up, they got very interested.  At that point in time it was still just a concept, being run as a sideline to my consultancy.  They convinced me to park the consulting full time and focus on AP.  We carved up the shareholding of the AP venture, they put some money in and we set to work.  Unfortunately, they decided to alter the focus of the company a bit, pursuing only commercial scale ventures in partnership with government development agencies.  Two years down the line that has gone nowhere.  I gave myself a cut-off time where I would abandon all attempts to keep the company going if there is no clear sign of income, and that was late last year.  I still have one aquaculture research project going which is government funded, and I will get the consultancy up and going again this year.  My interests in aquaponics was always commercial - we have very little aquaculture and not a lot of irrigation water to go around.  Aquaponics could be a viable way to address both issues, and I still believe that if I stuck to things the way I originally intended, it could have paid off.  Now I will take a few steps back and see how I can get my original concepts alive again without causing problems for myself.

[Chi Ma]

Hey! Welcome back buddy! I missed your detailed discussions that made my eyes glaze over.

 

What are you in the business for Kobus? Are you in it to make a living? A hobby? A way of life? 

 

Enjoy AP for what it is. Do it well and show others. Once people see that it is enjoyable and healthy they will come around. Create a community AP program that requires sweat equity to enjoy the benefits. Invite neighbors, friends, co-workers, school kids to see your AP system. Serve them a meal from your AP system. Once the word gets out what you are doing they will flock. That is what I am doing. No fancy marketing. Just word of mouth.

[TCLynx]

Good to have you back Kobus.

Sigh, I feel for your frustrations.  It sounds like your part of the world might benefit from something like Growing Power (not necessarily their particular method of doing aquaponics but the whole community building provision of food in an urban food desert.)  However, such a model isn't likely to make you a living while you are trying to support a family so you must take care of yourself too.  And I'm not sure Growing Power would have succeeded without Will Allen.

 

I too feel I can't "charge" for information.  I perhaps one day might compile much of my writing into a book and sell it if people are interested but all the information will have already been shared with those interested in looking for it on here, my blog, BYAP and elsewhere.  Anyway, for now I sell useful products that might be difficult for people to find elsewhere and if anyone wants to hire me to consult or design/build/install a system for them I certainly will, for now I keep doing my other jobs just to pay the bills and learning/experimenting more on my own.

 

I think targeting education, wellness centers and community centers would be great ways to get the idea of aquaponics providing good local food out there but they may not be easy to make a living from since they often don't have enough money as it is.

 

I'll keep pondering the dilemma Kobus but I haven't been much able to answer it for myself either.